Mum given just months to live after doctors dismissed symptoms as Covid jab side-effects

A mum-of-two has been given just months to live after doctors dismissed her symptoms as side-effects of the Covid vaccine.

Katie Pritchard, 37, went to her GP after finding a lump, but she was told there was 'nothing to worry about'.

Medics initially suggested the symptoms could have been due to the Pfizer jab, before offering up a number of potential explanations including a prolapsed bladder and an STI.

Not satisfied with the treatment she received, Katie - who works as a nurse manager - decided to go and see a gynaecologist.

And it was here she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

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Katie, from Stratford-upon-Avon, said: "When I first went to the doctors with my symptoms, I knew something wasn’t right.

"I had to really push for the nurse practitioner to examine me for the second time in my appointment and she told me there was nothing to worry about.

"I knew it was more than a bladder prolapse and I had been with my soon-to-be husband for 17 years, so I knew it wasn’t an STI.

"I was left with no faith, and it didn’t make any sense so that is when I booked myself into see a gynaecologist."

She continued: "I was seen urgently within 10 days after making my appointment.

"After examining me, he asked if I had come to the appointment alone and from this moment, I knew what he was going to say - I knew it was cancer.

"My gynaecologist was astonished that this hadn’t been picked up by the nurse practitioner and rang them to tell them he was very angry about my misdiagnosis."

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What followed was an agonising three-month wait for her treatment to begin, by which point the cancer had spread.

Katie's treatment started in April last year with five weeks of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy.

Throughout this time, Katie was sick almost every day and lost two stone - but in June, she was told the cancer was gone.

However, in December, after undergoing further scans, she received the heartbreaking news that the illness had returned.

At the start of this year, Katie was diagnosed with lung, shoulder, spine, and pelvic cancer and started palliative chemotherapy three weeks ago.

Although she's been given just months to live, her partner Tom Cronin, 35, has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for a private immunotherapy drug for Katie to take alongside her ongoing treatment.

The potentially life-prolonging drug, named Pembrolizumab, costs an eye-watering £6,000 every three weeks as it's not available on the NHS.

At the time of writing the crowdfund has raised £113,344 of its £200,000 goal, with Katie, who is mum to sons Percy, four, and Cass, two, stating: "I am so overwhelmed by the support and donations we have received.

"I have the most beautiful, friends, family and work colleagues surrounding me and supporting me."

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The couple plan on tying the knot on 27 February, something Katie said she's 'excited' about.

Adding to this, Tom said: "The day that they said Katie was going to have months rather than years, I proposed at the spot where we first met.

"We’ve got a to-do list, which includes a will and making videos for the boys. So, if the worst does happen, we’re prepared for it.

"We’re being realists and positive at the same time. It's a weird balance."

If you can donate to to their GoFundMe, click here.